Hello,
So my daughters preschool has 2 teachers that are pregnant right now and I offered to make quilts for them. I'm an amateur quilter, and made them aware of this. Our idea is to have the kids draw pictures on some squares of fabric (probably muslin) and I'll sew them together. The only issue we are coming across is that I don't know what to use to get the artwork onto the fabric, that won't be rough like paint, but still says on through washing and don't bleed like the pens often do. Someone told me there are some kind of markers or something that the kids can draw on a piece of paper with them and then you can iron them onto the fabric, has anyone heard of this?
Any advice would be great! Thank you!!!!
As said before you can have the kids draw on muslin with Crayola Crayons, they have to be Crayola because of the way they make them. After the kids do their drawings you can use parchment paper and an iron to remove the wax and the dye stays behind.
Crayola makes fabric crayons. I bought them for about $4 a box at Joanns. You have the kids draw and color on white paper, pressing hard to make the colors bright and bold. You then flip the papers over and iron onto the fabric. Works great. I make quilts all the time and think this is a great idea. Just be sure to write their names backwards so it comes out right when done. (o:
You can scan drawings and photos, then print them onto fabric: http://www.dritz.com/brands/printedtreasures/index.php
You need an inkjet type printer, not a laser printer. The fabric comes with a paper backing that makes it stiff enough to feed through the printer, then peels off once the image is on the fabric. I helped a friend print a set of images -- not as vibrante as originals, but looked great.
I used fabric markers to make a quilt with students and they worked great. We had each child draw a picture on paper first so they would have an idea before they drew on the fabric. That was with 2nd graders. You could also just do each child's handprint in the middle of each square with fabric paint, fingerprint flowers using paint, or handprint butterflies with handprints for the wings.
I got a lot of help from some ladies at a quilt store. They told me how to put a border around each square. One of the ladies even drew out a picture with measurements and stuff and told me how much fabric I would need. If you have a quilt store close, I highly recommend that.
The paper you are talking about can be found at Michaels. I am not sure how it works but have seen it there.
I coordinated a Kindergarten quilt a few years ago and we had the kids draw on muslin squares and then I placed some kind of paper over the image and ironed it to set the crayon. I didn't put the actual quilt together. If I may say so, you've taken on quite a project - to make two. Good-luck.
My mom did something like this at my wedding. She set out fabric squares and fabric markers and had everyone write or draw on a square as the guest book. Then she took the squares and sewed them into a quilt. 10 years later it's still beautiful. Look for fabric markers at the craft store; I think that would be the easiest way to do it.
Hi there.
I used to make these all the time. There are fabric markers that they can use. Before you put it together iron all the squares so the marker sets. One that I made for my son I put loops on the top so we could actually hang it.
:)
Good luck.
One idea my mother did for this type of project was have us draw bold designs with large geometric shapes on regular size paper. Then she enlarged and interpreted the patterns using fabric shapes to make a twin sized quilt. I think she used solid colors of flannel.
My son made a soft collage book for his cousin. First, we made the pages from white flannel and then he decorated it with scraps of fabric, ribbons, and fabric markers. To put a picture on it, we printed a photo with a laser printer, then painted cotton fabric with acrylic craft paint mixed with "fabric medium". Then put the printout face down into the wet paint. The wet paper rubs off leaving the printer ink stuck to the paint. I'm not sure how washable the finished picture is, so we did not try this on a blanket.
My mother-in-law is a wonderful quilter and when her father celebrated his 95th birthday she made him a quilt with pictures of him when he was younger. I can't remember what the stuff was called, but I do know you can find it at any Hancock fabric, or Joann's or Michael's store.
What might work for you is to have the kids draw pictures on paper and then you scan those pictures into your computer and print them out. I believe it actually prints onto the fabric, but I can't be sure. I can't see my MIL going through all those steps of scanning picture in, printing onto iron on, transfering, and then piecing together, so I'm pretty sure it went right onto some type of muslin (or white anyway) fabric.
Looking at this, I don't seem to be too helpful, but back then I was still new to the family so I didn't know about it until the party. But I do know that if you go to any fabric or craft store they will help you.
I know for my kids' godparents Christmas gifts I traced their hands with Crayola fabric markers onto a flour sack dish towel. I'm pretty sure none of the godparents have actually used the dish towel, but it's another idea.
Also, how big of a quilt are you looking at making, just a small wall hanging type or baby quilt or larger? If it's not something that will actually be washed very often I think you can get away with using the fabric markers.
I hope I've been some sort of help!! It sounds like such a cute idea! Good luck!
